Frieda Rapoport Caplan
Frieda Rapoport Caplan (August 10, 1923 — January 18, 2020) was an American businesswoman who was the founder of Frieda's Inc., a specialty produce company in Los Alamitos, California. She created the specialty produce industry in the United States and revolutionized the fresh produce industry.
Early life
Caplan was born Frieda Rapoport in downtown Los Angeles on August 10, 1923.[1][2] Her parents, Solomon and Rose Yanowa Rapoport,[1] were Jewish Russian immigrants.[3] She was raised in Highland Park. Her father worked for a clothing manufacturer as a pattern cutter, and her mother was a homemaker.[1] She attended UCLA, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science in 1945.[1][4] Caplan never learned to cook.[5]
Career
Caplan worked in a law office and a nylon factory before the birth of her first child.[6] In 1955 she had her first child and was looking for a job with flexible hours that allowed her to breastfeed.[1] Relatives of her husband managed a produce company, Giumarra Brothers,[7] that sold at the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market.[5] They hired her as a bookkeeper, despite her lack of bookkeeping and produce knowledge.[1] When they left for a vacation shortly afterward, they asked her to take charge on the market floor.[5]
In the 1950s, most grocery store produce aisles carried a very limited selection of produce.
Caplan was not particularly interested in food or produce, and she did not cook,
In the early 1960s, premises next door to Giumarra Brothers became vacant.
Kiwifruit
In 1962, her first year doing business as Frieda's Specialty Produce, she began promoting kiwifruit, then known by the "offputting name" of Chinese gooseberry.[1][5] An importer approached her and the other produce wholesalers in the market about selling it; Caplan was the only one to say yes.[5] The fruit was unattractive and sold very slowly.[5] Growers in New Zealand began to call the fruit "kiwifruit" in 1959,[11] and Caplan started selling it by that name.[1] She recruited local chefs to create dishes with the fruit and gave out samples on the market floor.[5] She sold the idea of carrying the fruit to the president of the Alpha Beta grocery chain by serving him and his produce supervisors a lunch featuring several courses of kiwifruit dishes.[8] At the time, marketing fruit was a revolutionary idea.[5] The kiwifruit was the first totally new fruit since the banana to be introduced in the US for 90 years.[5][9] Caplan sold 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) of kiwifruit in 1962.[12] Kiwifruit became a news story,[2][5] and by 1986 it was carried in 84% of the nation's supermarkets.[12] Because Caplan was so closely associated with its popularity, food editors started referring to her as "the Queen of Kiwi".[5][3] The kiwi established her reputation, and growers and importers from outside the market starting contacting her.[5] In 1985 The New York Times called the marketing and promotion of the kiwifruit "her greatest claim to fame".[8]
By the 1970s, Caplan had a sales team who were all women.[5] She had a regular spot on local television giving "market reports to consumers".[7] By 1979 she was selling 130 specialty produce items.[7]
Packaging and promoting
Caplan was known for her inventiveness at packaging and promoting unusual produce and being willing to take risks with profits. The Los Angeles Times said she revolutionized the industry.
In the mid-1970s Frieda's introduced
At one point Caplan, worried about whether it was possible to run out of new products to introduce and contacted a horticultural expert, who told her there were between 20,000 and 80,000 edible species and that only around 200 had ever been commercially developed.[5] Caplan retired in 1990[1] but as of 2012 still worked full time as chairman of the board.[13] In 1995 she appeared on the David Letterman Show.[4] A 2015 documentary about her career, Fear No Fruit, was produced by Cinetic.[1]
Legacy and recognition
According to The New York Times, Caplan "[broadened] the choices available to American consumers by importing products from South America, Australia, Asia and elsewhere. She taught retailers how to store and promote them and buyers how to prepare them."
Caplan was named an Outstanding California Woman in Business in 1987.
Frieda's Specialty Produce
According to The New York Times, an endorsement from Frieda's represents "a game-changer" for growers.[1]
Caplan's daughters, Karen and Jackie, took over the business after her retirement.[5] The business is now called Frieda's Inc. As of 2020, Frieda's was "basically where all the new fruits and vegetables on our supermarket shelves come from", according to Graber and Twilley.[5] The company no longer deals in kiwifruit; it is no longer considered specialty produce.[5] According to Graber and Twilley, Frieda's is "ground zero" for growers of a new-to-the-US produce item.[5] The company buys products from American farmers and from importers.[5]
The company's introductions to supermarket produce departments, in addition to kiwifruit, sugar snap peas and Jerusalem artichokes, include:
By 2018 Frieda's had 75 full-time employees and 110 part-time.[2] As of January 2020 the company's annual sales are US$60 million.[9]
Personal life
Caplan married Alfred Hale Caplan, a labor relations consultant, in 1951.[1][2][9] They had two daughters, Karen and Jackie.[1] Caplan's husband died in 1998.[1] At age 95 she became a vegan.[4] Caplan died January 18, 2020, in Los Alamitos[1] at the age of 96.[18]
References
- ^ from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Pineda, Dorany (January 19, 2020). "Frieda Caplan, the 'Kiwi Queen' who introduced hundreds of fruits and veggies to the U.S., has died". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Shandrow, Kim Lachance (July 16, 2015). "How This Produce Pioneer Popularized the Kiwi and Forever Changed the American Palate". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Goulding, Susan Christian (January 20, 2020). "Produce pioneer Frieda Caplan, who normalized shiitake and named kiwi, dies at 96". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as Graber, Cynthia; Twilley, Nicola (December 17, 2019). "Meet the Queen of Kiwi: The 96-Year-Old Woman Who Transformed America's Produce Aisle". Gastropod. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Frieda Caplan founds innovative specialty produce company | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Langer, Emily (January 23, 2020). "Frieda Caplan, 'Kiwi Queen' who brought a touch of the exotic to the American fruit basket, dies at 96". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ Lui, Kevin (February 9, 2017). "How the Chinese Gooseberry Became the Kiwifruit". Time. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ "Frieda Caplan". www.templebethdavid.org. March 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ "Produce pioneer Frieda Caplan passes away | Canadian Grocer". Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ Karst, Tom (January 18, 2020). "Updated: Industry pioneer Frieda Rapoport Caplan dies". The Packer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Frieda Caplan | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ "A fruitful life: Remembering Frieda Caplan, the exotic fruit lady". www.cbsnews.com. January 19, 2020. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- NPR.org. Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.